Thursday, November 19, 2020

Be an Elf (A clothes story)

December's coming. She doesn't have any exciting Christmas plans this year. Actually she's not expecting to go anywhere at all, or even to have company over. But she does own this red leather vest.
Red isn't one of her usual wardrobe colours, and in fact it clashes rather badly with some of the pinks and purples she usually wears. And, of course, a red vest is apt to get her asked, "Are you a Christmas elf?" Enough with the short jokes already.

But in December, she doesn't care. She rounds up ten other items of clothing:

Black jeans
Blue jeans
Leggings in a sort of brown-grey
Off-white cotton turtleneck
Grey short-sleeved t-shirt
Longer-style plum shirt
Jean-style Tencel shirt
Striped cardigan
Dark grey Revolve dress/tunic/top from Encircled
Teal green convertible shawl/poncho

(All items were thrifted except for the dress and the turtleneck.)

She also pulls out three scarves, a purse, and a brooch on a chain. (And some tights and shoes.)

Her only real rule is that she doesn't want to wear red with green, if at all possible. (Except for the scarves that combine both.) How many outfits can she make?

Shirt, vest, jeans
Dress, vest
T-shirt, jeans, poncho styled as wrap
Dress worn as top, jeans, vest
Shirt, turtleneck, vest, jeans
Turtleneck, vest, jeans
Plus a scarf
Dress, cardigan
Jean shirt, cardigan, jeans
Turtleneck, cardigan, jeans
Plus the jean shirt
Plum shirt, cardigan, jeans
Or with leggings
Dress as top, jeans, scarf
Shirt, jeans, scarf
Shirt over dress, scarf
Shirt over shirt, leggings
Shirt, scarf (pants or dress-as-skirt not shown)
Turtleneck, jeans, scarf as shawl
Dress, floral scarf
Turtleneck, jeans, poncho tied in front

Score so far: eleven pieces, twenty-one outfits (and you could probably make more).

What would stretch it out to fill ten more days of December?

She looks at her list and realizes that she doesn't have a long-sleeved t-shirt or top there, except for the dress which can be tucked up to be a top. She finds a green one with long sleeves. It can be worn with the pants, or under the jean shirt, although not so much with the poncho (it's more green than teal). So that would be good for another, say, three outfits.
(The green isn't quite as dull as it appears; it's one of those colours that this camera dislikes.)

She decides she wants another warm sweater, and she just happens to have a blue-and-grey cowl neck pullover that came her way recently at the thrift store. The sweater doesn't layer well (and the colour would look funny under the teal poncho), but she does have a lightweight grey poncho that could go over top if she wants to dress it up; plus the poncho itself works with other tops and the dress. So, at least five more outfits.
And after noticing that all the pants are jeans and leggings, she decides to throw in a pair of grey cords. It's not exactly dressy, but it's better than denim. That comes to 15 pieces of clothing, plus the scarves, shoes, etc.

Hmmm...two more days of December?

Oh, rules schmoolz. Red and green rock at Christmas time. 

10 comments:

Alice said...

Just looking at that red vest puts me in a good mood, so I wholeheartedly approve of your December wardrobe choices! My favourite outfit is the one with the red necklace&vest worn over the off-white turtleneck, but they all look nice and comfy.

Mama Squirrel said...

Thank you, Alice!

Donna said...

Nice styling! Can't select a favorite but you have done a wonderful job.

Mama Squirrel said...

Hi, Donna! Thank you!

The Vivenne Files said...

This is beautiful - I would wear every stitch of this!
hugs,
Janice

Mama Squirrel said...

Janice, thanks so much! We can all be elves.

Elizabeth said...

Great choices. Love the red flower pendant. You've given me some ideas for jazzing up outfits with bold scarves. Thanks.

Mama Squirrel said...

Thanks, Elizabeeth! The flower is a brooch: I hate poking holes in clothes, so I thread them on necklace chains instead.

Anonymous said...

Such a marvelously festive wardrobe. I think I like the last one best!

--Sally in St Paul

Mama Squirrel said...

Thank you, Sally! I will be festing mostly around the house, but it's fun to dress up a bit anyway.